Information Sources of Rural Women on Health and Nutrition in Ranga Reddy District of Andhra Pradesh

Every day innumerable information is generated and its dissemination plays an important role in the de- velopment of all the aspects of human activities. Though there are many information sources, women in the rural areas had very limited access to the media for acquiring the information on health and nutrition. Keeping this in view, the present study was conceived to identify the different sources of health and nutrition for rural women. Ex- Post facto research design was employed and the study was conducted in the Shamshabad Mandal of Ranga Reddy District, with the sample of 120 rural women from the four selected villages. Data was collected with the help of a structured schedule. Results revealed that family members, TV, anganwadi teachers, neighbhours were their major sources of health and nutritional information. The world today is an "information society". There is an ever in- creasing need for information in all the aspects of human activ- ity. Rural women, in the present era are considered as pillars of development in India as they not only constitute half of popula- tion but also influence growth of the remaining half of its popu- lation. It is a proven fact that health is the most vital factor that directly affects the quality of the life and in turn the develop- ment of nation. If a woman in the family has sound knowledge on nutrition and health it leads to healthy family which in turn led to a healthy nation. Though rural are exposed to media its utilization is not to the fullest extent. The reasons may be due to lack of awareness, ignorance and illiteracy. Regarding the infor- mation sources on health and nutrition, women mainly depend on peers, elders, relatives and printed materials, for getting information on healthy and nutritious diet. Scrimshaw (1971) stated that friendship and neighborhood had a great influence in acceptance and rejection of nutrition information. Mothers advice / relatives / friends/ as a source of information scored the highest than mass media communication for dispensing nu- tritional information while radio was utilized by the majority of the respondents in mass media. Due to low literacy, maga- zines and news papers were less accessed by the women (Goyal and Buttar, 1989). Therefore, it was felt necessary to know the information sources by which rural women derive information with respect to health and nutrition. Taking the above facts into consideration the present study designed to know the different communication sources of rural women through which they ac- quire information on health and nutrition.